Whatcha Want?

Our group of UTD students at the Student Institute of Campus Ministry (SICM) this year, teeeeechnically standing in Canada (about 50 feet from the border). 

"Those who live according to the flesh have their

 minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live

in accordance with the Spirit have their minds 

set on what the Spirit desires."

Romans 8:5 (NIV)

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, 

because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

Matthew 9:36 (NIV)

Do you have any interests that are important to you, but other people really couldn't care less about?

I love rap music. To me, a good rap song can have so much depth and meaning. My heart for others, my faith in God, and my appreciation for people of different backgrounds have all been challenged by people who used the medium of rap to communicate. 

Most people don't really want to hear about this.

Something that God has pointed out to me is that I do a pretty terrible job of learning to care about what He cares about. I often come to God for direction, for peace, and -if I'm honest- to appease Him, because, after years of following Him, I can still think He's somehow needy. Recently, God began pointing out to me that I rarely talk to Him about what He wants to talk about. First, I don't talk to God about the nations (namely, the thousands of international students at UTD from mostly unreached countries) coming to know Him. Second, I don't often come to God just to be with Him. I think Jesus came to his Father for direction, peace, wisdom, and more, but I also think Jesus just loved to be with his Father. 

SICM

My SICM roommates and I with our wonderful host family! From left to right: Deion, Me (looking very dazed), Jason (our "host dad"), Toni (our "host mom"), Aidan, Sion, and Caleb (our "host brother")

Every year, FOCUS sends a number of students who have shown consistency, initiative, and a heart for God and people to Bellingham, Washington for a week-long conference called SICM, where they learn to be disciple-makers on their campuses. SICM is where I first began to see myself as someone who God wanted to use to bring others to Him (or closer to Him) on campus. 

And it was so great this year!

• Our students were incredibly cheerful, engaged, focused on God, and supportive of one-another (trust me, that's not always the case)
• No one was injured (go hiking with 80-120 college freshman, and you'll see why that's a miracle)
• We had some awesome experiences doing campus evangelism at different colleges in the area. One of my housemates, Deion (in the picture above) grew up Buddhist but became a Christian two years ago. The person he ended up in a conversation with grew up Christian but was considering Buddhism! You could see God's hand at work in so many places!
• I got to attend some of the classes, but I also got to do some video work in preparation for next year's Spring Showcase (our huge fundraiser to send students to SICM), and our UTD senior staff got to have some really productive times planning for next school year.

Overall, it encouraged me and put ministry back in perspective to see a bunch of college students getting excited to share their faith with others and grow closer to God. 

Prayer

• Pray for summer FOCUS! We start today, and I'm super excited. I've found that God can do a lot of behind-the-scenes heart work during the slower days of the summertime, and I would love to see Him do that in our students and staff.
• Pray for our students who are back home. It can be hard to keep growing in your faith when the structures (small groups, accountability, one-on-one Bible studies) that pushed you towards God fall out of place. Please pray that they would continue to grow as disciples and find a solid Christian community where they are.